When you tell a story you explain something which has engaged you, something which has moved you. Telling good stories is certainly not easy, particularly if you don’t use words. Just like a good DJ set, storytelling is all about creating an arc, putting listeners under a spell and giving the feeling that this story doesn’t have to come to an end. Telling a story with these attributes without using words? How it’s possible is demonstrated by DJ and producer Markus Suckut.

Markus’ own musical history began in 1999, at the brink of the new millennium an interest in electronic music was awakened in the young, Germany-based Markus. At the time it was less about committing to one musical direction, than about the excitement of DJing and testing sonic limits. Carried along by the excitement of these inital impressions Markus began to teach himself to mix and within a few short years his first productions followed.

It’s hard to categorise someone who himself detests thinking about music in narrow-minded categories and who takes influence from many different styles of music.

His own productions are best described plainly and simply with the word techno, techno which often and willingly becomes dub. His sets are wide reaching, and even if they have a common basis it’s difficult to describe what exactly they have in common. Perhaps it is soul, a bit of dreaminess and a tendency towards melancholy that best characterise Markus and his music.

Good things take time. A good story can’t be told in passing; accordingly Markus Suckut can be seen as one of the most vocal opponents of short sets, and of a club culture where the next DJ jostles impatiently in the booth waiting impatiently for the start of their own set. To play in his own style, leading the crowd and casting a spell over it, delighting listeners with records selections that go beyond the remit of any kind of DJ charts, this is his world. And in the company of someone who loves to listen to elaborate stories, who detects subtlety while simultaneously appreciating current trends, the listener is in very good hands with both his productions and his sets.

Discodromo [ Coctkail d'amore / Intenasjonal ]

DJ/production duo Discodromo named themselves after the Italian word for the circular runway of UFOs as used in 1970s sci-fi films.

Independent of one another, Giacomo Garavelloni and Giovanni Turco spent time in nightclubs though the 90s where they gained a deep understanding of house and techno. It was only a matter of time before they crossed paths, at which point they immediately realized they were in love, with music! Their combined passion and knowledge of myriad musical mutations was the perfect basis of their new DJ partnership. By 2008, the duo relocated to Berlin, and their stylistically diverse sets have led to bookings in a wide array of clubs: the infamous Panorama Bar in Berlin, Output in New York, Smart Bar in Chicago, ageHa in Tokyo and Sónar festival in Barcelona, to name a few.

Giacomo and Giovanni’s newfound surroundings also inspired them to start producing their own music together, which led to their debut 12” single “Cosmorama” on Internasjonal, the label owned by Prins Thomas (who also provided a remix of the track, later included on Optimo’s lauded Fabric52 mix CD). Since then they released other records with Internasjonal and more productions and remixes on a variety of other labels like BPitch Control, Phonica Records and of course their own CockTail d’Amore Music.

In 2009 Discodromo have teamed up with Berghain resident DJ Boris to create CockTail d’Amore, a monthly party that’s become a fixture in Berlin’s gay scene and had editions at Lux in Lisbon and Rex in Paris. In 2011 the boys have expanded the venture into a record label as well.